List out All Your Ideas and Go for a Sketch
This is usually the easiest and most fun part of this process; figuring out what you want. The first thing you should do is to look at your practical requirements. Try to think about how a kitchen remodel would help you to improve the functionality of your kitchen. This is far more important than how the place will ultimately look. It won’t matter if you have the prettiest kitchen in the world if it is not helping in your daily kitchen functions.
You should first try to figure out the optimum layout of the kitchen you want. Think about where you want everything; where all the appliances go, where the sink should be placed, how big the kitchen island should be, and where the cabinets should come, etc. It would be great if you can sketch out the layout you have in mind to show your contractor, it will make his job a lot easier. Give thoughts to what sort of fixtures and textures you want for the place. What materials you want etc. Check out home improvement sites and search online to get inspiration for what you exactly want your kitchen to look like.
Fix Your Budget and Reserve Time for the Remodel
When you have a good idea of how your kitchen will look like, now would be a good time to figure out what your budget is and what is the time frame which you would set out for the remodeling.
With regard to the budget, try to nail down what will the upper limit that will be willing to spend on your kitchen project. You might not be able to figure out exactly how much the remodel will cost but you can determine how much you will be willing to spend on it. Having a budget ceiling will be really helpful in moving forward.
The next thing to think of is how much time a remodel of this size will take and how much time you are willing to allocate for it. The exact time taken for the remodel will vary depending on the size of your kitchen, the scale of the changes to be done, and how capable your contractor is. Usually it can take from one to three months for a kitchen remodel. So use that as a reference when you set aside time for the construction.
Find the Right Contractor for You
There are plenty of professionals out there to get your kitchen remodeling done right. You can find contractors who do provide only one particular service like installing countertops or doing the plumbing or you can find contractors who can complete the entire remodel all by themselves. Talk to your friends, talk to your family talk to your colleagues, and find someone who had gotten such a remodeling done recently. Contact them ask for their suggestion regarding the contractors they used.
You can also go to some of the big showrooms to see some of the latest material available in the market for kitchens and get some referrals during it.
When you have some good prospects, call them to your place and have a walk around with them discussing your remodeling requirements and at the end ask for their estimates. It is usually said that you need at least 3 estimates to compare. At this time you might need to adjust your requirement to keep your budget manageable. Choose the contractor who will align the best with your budget.
Once you have picked one draw up a contract that will explain the scope of the remodeling and the timeline of the work process. Add the payment schedule to this as well.
When the Demolition Day Arrives
Once the design has been approved and the paperwork passed, the contractors will come on an agreed date to tear down your kitchen. During this period some may prefer to leave their home while others choose to stay. Regardless of your decision, there are a few things that you will need to plan ahead for this period.
Make sure that you close off the other parts of the house from the kitchen; otherwise the dust will run havoc in your house. Move only the items that you need from your kitchen, let the things that you were planning to discard in the kitchen, the contractors will remove them with the rest of the junk. Set us a separate temporary kitchen in another part of the house. Make sure you have enough appliances & utensils to cook and have small meals. Make a plan for how you will get everything back to the new kitchen once it is all finished.
How the Remodeling Will Happen
Once the heavy-duty construction is done there are multiple ways the final remodeling can go, but as a guide we would suggest that you follow the following order to keep things simple.
First reconfigure the plumbing and electrical lines in order if there have been plans to change the placement of the basin and appliances. Then paint the place and put in the new flooring. Install the cabinets and then set up the countertops and the backsplash. Finally place the appliances while fine-tuning the placement and fastenings.
Wrapping Everything Up
Once everything has been installed and the place cleaned, go over every part of the remodel to check if everything has been set up right and connected properly. Get your pre-remodel checklist out and see if everything has been done. Go over your contract agreement and see if they have completed everything that they had promised. Make sure you do this before you settle the final payment with them.
If everything is done to satisfaction then you can go ahead and dismantle the temporary kitchen you set and start moving everything back to their rightful places in the new kitchen and settle into your new and improved cooking routine.
